Car seal



Feh 12 192%.;

B. BORLAND CAR SEAL Filed Dec. 13 1920 Patented Feb. 12, 1924.

UNITED STATES 1.4mm PATENT err-" rcs.

BRUCEBORLAND, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CAB, SEAL.

Application filed December 13,1920. Serial No. 430,263.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BRUCE BoRLAND, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Car Seals, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to seals such as are commonly used for sealingcars, receptacles, or other articles or devices, where it is de sired toprevent their being opened except by authorized persons.

The objects of this invention are to provide a seal of improved form orcharacter; to providea seal which may be readily and cheaplyconstructed; to provide a seal having secured locking mechanism andconstructed so that if the locking mechanism is tampered with, the sealwill be apt to be broken; and to provide such other advantages andimprovements as will appear more fully from the following specification.

I have shown a preferred form of my invention in the accompanyingdrawings in which;

Fig. 1 is a perspective view.

Fig. 2 is a plan View of the locking portion.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal, sectional view of the locking portion and,

Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view.

It will be understood that these seals are usually made of tin or lightsheet metal and the figures shown in the drawings are on enlargedscales.

As shown in these drawings, the seal comprises a strip 5, which formsthe loop to be passed through the lock or other devices to which theseal is applied. One end of the loop 5 is somewhat enlarged to form alooking end or head 6. The central portion of this head is elevated orstamped up to form a seat 7 for the coacting locking member. A cap 8fits upon the head 6 and is held in engagement therewith by means of theflange 9 on the head 6, which is bent over the adjacent edge or flange10 of the cap. It will be noted that the head 6 is in alignment with theadjacent portion of the strip 5, but is bent downwardly so that there isa shoulder 11 between these portions. In other words the head and flan eforms a cup-like extension at the end of t e loop and one of theprincipal features of this invention is the arrangement whereby a partof the flange 9 as shown at 12 is continued up along the sides of thisshoulder so as to strengthen the locking member.

The cap 8 has an inwardly projecting tongue 13 which lies adjacent tothe seat 7 and is somewhat yielding to permit the insertion of thelocking member. This tongue is of channel shape or has side flanges 14:which engage with the top of the cap for a short distance beyond thebend as shown at 15.

The opposite end of the strip 5 is provided with a locking tongue 16,which is adapted to be inserted between the seat 7 and the tongue 13.The tongue 16 is bent downwardly or offset to form a shoulder 17, whichis adapted to rest against the ad jacent shoulder 18 of the tongue 13.The locking tongue 16 also has a projection 19 for engagement with theend of the tongue 13 and has side flanges 20, which fit over the flanges1 1 of the tongue 13.

When the seal is to be looked, as shown in Figures 1 and 3 the lockingtongue 16 is inserted between the tongue 13 and the seat 7 and pressedinwardly until the end of the tongue 13 engages with the projection 19,to lock the same in position. At this time the shoulder 17 issubstantially in contact with or rests against the shoulder 18. When theparts are thus assembled it is diflicult or practically impossible tounlock the same or tamper with the latching mechanism without breakingthe seal or otherwise showing that the device has been tampered with.The flanges or nesting arrangement of the locking tongue and springtongue prevents the insertion of any tool or device for raising thespring tongue. Furthermore the cup-shape or flanged form of the head 6greatly stifl'ens the same and prevents the parts from being readilyfastened together if the fastening head or catch is broken oif from thestrip. It will also be noted that the outer walls of the upwardlyextending seat 7 make an abutment around the inner portion of the cup 0head 6 so that the sides of the cap 8 cannot be readily pressed inwardlyor collapsed so as to withdraw the flange 10 from the coacting flange 9of the cup. Furthermore by having the continuous flange around the cup 6there are no ends presented whereby a tool might be inserted for bendingup or loosening the flange after it has been crimped into position. Thehole 21 is preferably placed in the strip 5 adjacent to the catch ortongue 13 so that the strip is apt to be broken at this point if thisportion of he seal is tampered with. The hole also furnishes aconvenient means for carrying the device. Having thus described myinvention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1s:

1. A seal comprising a strip having a substantially cup shaped lockinghead at one end with a continuous flange around the entire peripherythereof and having an upwardly raised seat in the bottom, a cap formedof a separate piece and fitting over said head, a portion only of saidflange beingbent down to engage with the edge of the cap to hold itsecurely in position, an inwardly projecting tongue on said cap and alocking tongue on the opposite end of the strip for engagement with saidseat and tongue.

2. A car seal comprising a strip having a depressed flanged locking headat one end thereof with it flange extending around the entire peripherythereof, said head having an upwardly projecting seat, a cap secured tosaid head to form a pocket, said cap having an inwardly projectingflanged tongue,

the opposite end of the strip having a flanged locking tongue adapted tobe inserted between the seat and said tongue and to rest on said seat.

3. A car seal comprising a strip having an offset flanged head at oneend thereof, with an upwardly raised seat, the cap secured to said headto form a pocket, said cap having an inwardly projecting flanged andshouldered tongue the opposite end of the strip having a flangedshoulder locking tongue with a projection for engagement With the end ofthe first named tongue, the arrangement being such that the lockingtongue rests on the seat and nest over the first named tongue when inlooking position.

4. In the car seal, the combination of the strip having a pocket at oneend with a raised seat in the bottom thereof, a flanged and shoulderedtongue in said pocket and a flanged and shouldered locking tongue at theopposite end of the Strip for engagement with the seat and the firstnamed tongue substantially as described.

BRUCE BORLAND

